Brasato al Barolo (Piedmont Beef Braised in Barolo Wine)

• 1 kg beef chuck (cappello del prete), in one piece
• 1 litre Barolo (or another full-bodied red), cooked down to a sauce
• 4 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2–3 garlic cloves
• 30 g tomato paste (concentrato di pomodoro)
• fresh rosemary, sage and bay leaves, a few sprigs (strained out)
• 7–8 whole cloves (strained out)
• black peppercorns, a pinch (strained out)
• plain flour, for dusting the meat
• a drizzle of olive oil for browning (about 1 tbsp)
• salt, to taste

Method

The cook speaks Italian; every step is written here in English. Tap a time to watch that step in the video. For subtitles, tap CC in the video, then Settings › Subtitles › Auto-translate › English.

1. Put the beef in a deep bowl with the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, herbs, cloves and peppercorns, then pour over the Barolo. 0:33
2. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate overnight (about 12 hours); keep it in the fridge. 0:59
3. Lift the meat out, pat it dry with paper towels (keep the marinade) and dust it with flour on all sides. 1:08
4. Brown the beef well on all sides in a little oil in a separate pan, until it has a good crust. 1:34
5. Put the meat in a tall pot, pour in all the marinade with the vegetables so everything is covered, and stir in the tomato paste. Bring to the boil. 2:00
6. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2–2½ hours, skimming off the foam, adding a pinch of salt, brushing down the sides of the pot and turning the meat several times. 2:22
7. Lift out the meat. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve, pressing the vegetables hard with a ladle (or blend them, after removing the cloves and peppercorns), then reduce the sauce a little. 3:15
8. Slice the beef about 1 cm thick and serve with the sauce spooned over. 4:15

Tip. Cookist serves it with mashed potato; steamed greens or roast vegetables keep it lower in carbs. Like most braises it is even better reheated the next day. We count all the vegetables, as if blended into the sauce.

The method is a summary in our words — the video shows every step.